Paris
– The worldwide number of officially confirmed fatalities from the novel
coronavirus (Covid-19) rose to 43 082 on Wednesday, according to a tally
compiled by AFP at 11:00 (GMT) from official sources.

More
than 865 970 declared cases have been registered in 186 countries and
territories since the epidemic first emerged in China in December. Of these
cases, at least 172 500 are now considered recovered.

The
tallies, using data collected by AFP offices from national authorities and
information from the World Health Organisation (WHO), probably reflect only a
fraction of the actual number of infections.

Many
countries are only testing cases that require hospitalisation.

- AFP

Kenya president sorry for coronavirus cop violence

Nairobi
– Kenya's president on Wednesday apologised for violence meted out by police
following the declaration of a nationwide curfew last week to curb the spread
of novel coronavirus.

"I
want to apologise to all Kenyans for... some excesses that were
conducted," President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a live broadcast from State
House, during which he also introduced two young Kenyan coronavirus survivors.

"But
I want to assure you that if we work together, if we all understand that this
problem needs all of us, and if we pull in the same direction, we will
overcome," Kenyatta said.

Police
have used heavy-handed tactics to enforce the dusk to dawn curfew since its
introduction on Friday, with tear gas, baton charges and the alleged firing of
live rounds. A 13-year-old boy died in the capital Nairobi on Monday after
being shot while standing on his balcony.

- AFP

Girl, 11, Indonesia's youngest coronavirus fatality

Jakarta
– An 11-year-old girl has become Indonesia's youngest person to die after
contracting the novel coronavirus, officials said on Wednesday, as the
country's death toll from Covid-19 nearly tripled from a week ago.

The
girl, who was also suffering from dengue fever, was admitted to hospital on
Madura Island off the coast of Java on 19 March. She had a fever and breathing
difficulties, and died the following day. Tests only confirmed this week that
the girl also had Covid-19.

"Her
immune system was quite poor," said Joni Wahyuhadi, an official at East
Java's virus task force. "She was battling two illnesses at once so that's
why her condition worsened."

- AFP

Coronavirus to plunge 8 million into poverty in
Arab world - UN

Beirut
– The novel coronavirus pandemic will plunge 8.3 million people in the Arab
region into poverty, the United Nation's Economic and Social Commission for
Western Asia (ESCWA) said on Wednesday.

ESCWA
also warned that two million people could become undernourished as a result.

"With
today's estimates, a total of 101.4 million people in the region would be
classified as poor, and 52 million as undernourished," the UN agency said.

"Arab governments must ensure a swift emergency response
to protect their people from falling into poverty and food insecurity owing to
the impact of Covid-19," Dashti added.

- AFP

World faces food crisis in wake of coronavirus - UN, WTO

Paris
– The heads of three global agencies warned on Wednesday of the risk of a
worldwide "food shortage" if authorities fail to manage the ongoing
novel coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis properly.

Many
governments around the world have put their populations on lockdown causing
severe slow-downs in international trade and food supply chains. Panic buying
by people going into confinement has already demonstrated the fragility of
supply chains as supermarket shelves emptied in many countries.

"Uncertainty
about food availability can spark a wave of export restrictions, creating a
shortage on the global market," said the joint text signed by Qu Dongyu,
head of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and
Roberto Azevedo, director of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

"In
the midst of the Covid-19 lockdowns, every effort must be made to ensure that
trade flows as freely as possible, specially to avoid food shortage(s)"
from developing, they said in their statement.